Design Competitions
fjcstudio prepares design excellence competition schemes and the urban design frameworks behind them. Competitive design processes, required by councils such as the City of Sydney, test alternative approaches to a site and select the scheme with the greatest design merit.
Our competition-winning work includes 338 Pitt Street, 201 Elizabeth Street, Parliament Square in Hobart and The Cutaway at Barangaroo.
Our Expertise
Reading the Brief
Competition briefs set out the client’s ambitions, the planning controls and the design excellence criteria each scheme is judged against. We study them closely alongside the site, its history and Country, so our response is imaginative and grounded, and shows the jury and consent authority what they need to see.
Testing Ideas
Competitions reward clear ideas. We test many options for massing, public space and movement before committing to a direction, and use models, drawings and visualisations to communicate the scheme simply, so the jury can understand its intent and its benefits for the city and its people.
Public Domain
Winning schemes often give the most back to the city. At 338 Pitt Street, the masterplan created new laneways and public squares, and at Parliament Square the design opened a primary link between the waterfront and a new public square. Public space is central to every competition entry.
Competition to Approval
A competition is the start, not the end. Competition-winning schemes are carried through to approval without losing their design intent, as at 201 Elizabeth Street, whose Stage 2 State Significant Development application was approved in June 2025. Continuity of team protects what made each scheme win.
Projects
| Project | Description |
|---|---|
| 338 Pitt Street, Sydney | Competition-winning masterplan for two slim residential towers with new laneways and public squares. Final approval by the City of Sydney in March 2021. |
| 201 Elizabeth Street, Sydney | Competition-winning concept for a tower facing Hyde Park. The Stage 2 State Significant Development application was approved in June 2025. |
| Parliament Square, Hobart | Competition-winning redevelopment of a CBD block beside Tasmania’s Parliament House, with refurbished heritage buildings and a new public square. |
| The Cutaway, Barangaroo | Competition-winning scheme codesigned with Bangawarra and artist Jake Nash, transforming the space beneath Barangaroo Reserve into a cultural venue. |
| 10 Gordon Avenue, Chatswood | Winning competition scheme for a residential development. |
| 187 Thomas Street, Sydney | Urban design study for a planning proposal to redevelop the Haymarket site. The Sydney LEP amendment was made in September 2021. |
| Auckland Art Gallery Precinct, New Zealand | Redevelopment of the gallery and its links to Albert Park and Kitchener Street, with Archimedia. Resource consent was granted in 2006; the gallery reopened in 2011 and was named World Building of the Year in 2013. |
| Bennelong Cove, Wentworth Point | Two 50-storey towers with commercial uses and childcare. Recommended by the Housing Delivery Authority. |
| Bunjil Place, Narre Warren | A civic and cultural precinct for the City of Casey, bringing a theatre, library, exhibition spaces and a public plaza together beneath the sheltering wings of Bunjil. |
| Liberty Place, Sydney | The ANZ Tower and a new public laneway and plaza linking Castlereagh and Pitt Streets, with the heritage Legion House. Approved in 2007 and completed in 2013. |
For further information, please enquire by email. You can also explore fjcurban and our selected urban projects.